Pair of Bald Eagles - Big Bear Valley CA. Live Stream Jackie and Shadow await the hatching.
James A. Michener - Themes of Racism and of Love
Finished reading: Sayonara: A Novel by James A. Michener 📚
I have so many thoughts about this book. I made many notes while reading.
My father in-law who is an advid reader shared this paperback with me.
Michener historical fiction seems to overshawdow his earlier and shorter fictional works.
This was written in 1953.
It is less challenging to me as I read it in 2022. But I can reflect on how brave it was to put this out in 1953.
The story is centered around American and Japanese but the shawdows of racism in America is there.
This should be an easy find in your local librairy or at Half Priced Books
Reflections on Death
As I age and feel regrets, I find myself reflecting on Memento Mori.
You could leave life right now
I worry less about what is on the other side of death. Know one knows for sure. I will be dead and by definition there will be little I can do to change whatever is on the other side of this life.
Rather, when I focus on death I think about the time I have left and if death will sneak up on me as it is doing right now or if it will come unexpectedly.
Yesterday, I had my wisdom teeth out. Due to the circumstances it required surgey and sedation.
As I was feeling myself drifting I asked for my wife’s hand - they were kind enough to allow her to be in the room until I dosed off.
I was feeling myself drift. It was not unlike sleep but just different enough condsidering the circumstances. With sleep you feel some control and a sense that you will wake up. In this case, I was thinking this must be what death is like a gentle fading away and not being sure if this is it.
What I said out loud that I am reporting here was told to me by my wife since I do not recall more than the feeling I have expressed.
I love you and you are my world.
I do not want to die.
Corny and silly perhaps.
There was nothing about the procedure or the doctor that caused me any concern.
It was the fact that I have more I want to do. And if this is it for me then I have things left undone.
Always remember, you could leave this life right now.
With Kindness and Love
Your friend.
Terry
Russians | Sting 1985
In Europe and America There’s a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mr. Khrushchev said we will bury you I don’t subscribe to this point of view
It would be such an ignorant thing to do If the Russians love their children too
How can I save my little boy From Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?
There is no monopoly in common sense On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you I hope the Russians love their children too
There is no historical precedent To put the words in the mouth of the President
There’s no such thing as a winnable war It’s a lie - we don’t believe anymore!
Mr. Reagan says we will protect you I don’t subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology Regardless of ideology
What might save us - me, and you Is if the Russians love their children too
Songwriters: Sting, Prokofev Sergej S
Inside for winter but still blooms.
Camping for the week. South Llano State Park Junction, Texas
You either love or hate Bono. I love him and the music he made.
The One Habit to Rule Them All
We crave to be part of a group.
It is part of human nature.
The is especially true this time of year as we approach the annual planning and New Years resolutions.
For health it might be: I am a vegan. I am a carnivore. I am keto. For Productivity it might be: I am analog all the way. I am apple. I am iOS only.
I want to offer some advice and insight I have recently understood for myself.
You have failed. So instead you take to Youtube looking for the right process to follow. If I can just find the right group or right process to follow then I can trust that process and not lean on myself.
I would encourage you to look deep inside yourself and pick up a pen and paper. Sit and write out the first goal that comes to mind for 2022.
For example, a common one might be weight loss.
Write that down. “I want to lose 50 pounds”
Next write, what information do I need to accomplish this goal?
My hunch is that you have done plenty of reading and experimentation and you already know the process you need to follow. You have just not followed it and then you gave up.
You only fail if you give up trying.
David Goggins says it best. “Motivation is shit”.
You need a process. You need the Show Up For Yourself process!
Reading James Clear’s Atomic Habits would be a better use of your time than watching YouTube or listening to a bunch of podcasts.
If you own the book turn to page 163 and continue on page 164
People often think it’s weird to get hyped about reading 1 page or meditation for 1 minute or making 1 sales call. But the point is not to do one thing. The point is to master the habit of showing up.
If you can’t learn the basic skill of showing up, then you have little hope of mastering the finer details.
Ouch. That last sentence convicted me.
Make a rule. You will do X. Make it simple so that there is no grey area. Make a rule so clear that if a stranger watched you all day they would know if you broke your rule or not.
I do not eat X food. I will walk 1 mile every day.
- So this year decide.
- What is the one small thing I can do everyday to show up for myself?
- Make the rule.
- Never miss twice. (Jame Clear)
- Forgive yourself if you miss.
- Reset your resolve.
Let’s kick some ass in 2022.
Email me if you would like to discuss. I love to hear from people.
Your friend. Terry
More Tech in Blogging has not decreased the time between posts
In this wonderful little book Hoover muses that with all of the advances in technology with fishing that it still has not reduced the time between bites.
I have read countless bloggers of late lament which platform and or writing tool to use and I have fallen into this rabbit hole.
I have read pretty themed blogs and I have read shitty themed blogs. If the writer is saying something I want to read I read.
The only exception that I cannot abide is the pop up newsletter or offer. That is subject to immediate disqualification.
5 flowers on one plant. Cold here today as well.
Austin Texas.
Social Media Companies are Winning the Battle
He has a problem with alcohol.
He cannot handle his booze like us normies.
Would anyone use the logic above when talking about someone using heroine?
Alcohol has won the battle. Alcohol is ethanol. It is a poison and our bodies treat it as such. It is addictive and big alcohol spends a good deal of money to keep us using it.
I say alcohol has won the battle because when someone wants to stop drinking - they are said to have a have a drinking problem.
They make a healthy choice to move towards healing and are blamed for not being able to handle their booze.
Social Media companies are winning the battle too.
We know that social media causes problems with people mental health. Services designed to make the user want to use it more. Doom Scrolling. We all know it. You versus the algorithm.
Yet when someone stands up and quits social media or speaks out how they gave up their smart phone to help heal themselves they are met with the same response.
They cannot handle it. They need to learn moderation. The phone is just a device.
Is there a true cost to value proposition that would justify using social media?
At what point do you stop using a product or service because of your values? To take a stand for what you believe in?
We will live in a post social media world.
Start your healing.
Tonight I left my house. Drove to a burger place. Hung out with some friends for an hour or so. I drove back home.
I did not take my phone. I did not wear an Apple Watch. I did not turn on the radio in the truck.
It was refreshing.
One of the things I love about Central Texas is that our hibiscus still bloom late into the fall.
My Christmas Cactus is in full bloom!
Today’s Workout Highlights
- Negative
- Row
- Assisted Pull-up
I am still on a mission to get a pull up done.
Office or Study?
In 1993 I saw the movie, Shawdowlands.
Shadowlands is a 1993 British biographical drama film about the relationship between academic C. S. Lewis (played by Anthony Hopkins) and Jewish American poet Joy Davidman (played by Debra Winger), her death from cancer, and how this challenged Lewis’s Christianity.
The movie is about making meaning out of suffering. Is life Happiness and Joy or Pain and Suffering. It is worth the time investment.
The scene that came to mind today as I was cleaning up my desk area was when Joy (Winger) meets Jack (Hopkins) in his home study. It is a pleasant scene.
The room was full of books, pens and paper and a beautiful lamp and desk.
What was absent and of note to me - no computer and no phone.
I think there was a typewriter but growing up in the 80’s at the height of WordPerfect - the most modern Wordprocessor of that time - a typerwriter did not register as technology or a tool to use for any work.
The year was 1993. I was 25. My computer was a 386 running Windows 3.1
I can remember thinking “How does he do any work?”
Today I am 53. I have a similar room of my own. I do have a computer - still running windows. I work from home as an insurance agent. So yes I have to have a computer to work. It is 2021.
However, I am writing this on my other side of my desk in my office. My office has a U - shaped desk built in. It is designed to have 2 workspaces. I have chosen to have one side as my work side and the other as my personal side for journaling and reflection. I do keep this iPad on this desk for when I want to write something like this.
I believe in the movie C.S. Lewis called this room his study. I call my room my office.
Neil Postman talks a great length about the language we use around technology and how techology changes the meaning of things.
Each of us are bombbarded with distractions that cause mental context switching and decrease our ability to think deeply. To sit and study a topic or event.
Office vs Study
If walk into my study the name itself implies my task is to learn and reflect. To think deeply about a topic or book. There is no implied output.
If walk into my Office, the name implies output. Work implies the production of something. Often times this can turn into just doom scrolling.
Over the last 2 years I have spent too much time thinking about which app or device to use for different tasks. I have spent time watching YouTube videos trying to sort out my approach or how it improve. I scoffed at Ryan Holiday’s use of 4X6 cards for his commonplace book because it was not digital.
From my journal Nov 2020.
Life is not about fixing that one problem area or understanding that one concept that will unlock the secret. This is the modern lie. Rather I want to be a guy with a journal. I want to cultivate a deep life. A life where my values get translated into action.
Today my office is now called my Study.
The Moon and Venus
Squirrel Whisperer!